Chapter 456: Chapter 453: Rotten to the Core

The Main Peak Residential Area was already packed to the brim. Countless thieves had rushed here from all over the Ancient Cang Realm just to witness the birth of the Fifth Thief.

Arriving here again stirred up many memories for Feng Hao. He stood before the gate of the courtyard he used to live in, sighing with emotion for a long while before turning and walking into Ming Xin Yan’s neighboring courtyard.

"Sis, I’m here! Hurry out and welcome me!" Feng Hao yelled as he rushed into the courtyard. Before Ming Xin Yan could come out to greet him, he had already pushed the door open and barged in.

Ming Xin Yan had just gotten up and was about to go out to greet him when she saw Feng Hao recklessly burst in. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes at him.

"Don’t you know to knock before you come in? What if I was... indisposed?" Ming Xin Yan huffed, gesturing for Feng Hao to take a seat.

Feng Hao took a seat and said with a laugh, "I was just in a hurry to see you, Sis."

"Such a smooth-talker." Ming Xin Yan shot him a playful glare, then gracefully walked over to pour Feng Hao a cup of tea before sitting down across from him. "I heard a lot happened over in Wolf Country’s Five States City. You weren’t hurt, were you?"

"I’m fine, thanks for your concern, Sis." Feng Hao gave a slight smile. He looked up, studying her for a few moments, and said with a hint of astonishment, "Level fifty-eight? You used the Tier Five Life Creation Pill?"

Ming Xin Yan smiled gently. "Every extra level gives me a better chance of winning."

"Uh, so it looks like you really do want to become a Thief, Sis," Feng Hao said in surprise.

"Of course." Ming Xin Yan nodded, then looked at Feng Hao in confusion. "You’re the one I don’t get. You obviously have a Life Creation Pill, so why haven’t you used it yet? Do you really think you can compete with the three seeds from the Grand Hall at Level fifty-one?"

Hearing this, Feng Hao just smiled without answering and changed the subject. "Sounds like you know a lot about the three seeds, Sis."

"I wouldn’t say I know a lot, I just gathered some information." Ming Xin Yan gave Feng Hao a meaningful look but didn’t press the issue.

"So, tell me about it?" Feng Hao asked with a smile, taking a sip of his tea.

Ming Xin Yan had nothing to hide. She tucked her long hair behind her ear and began to explain with a serious expression, "The three seeds this time are no joke. Their strength is said to completely crush the other seventeen."

"The other seventeen? Aren’t there only three seeds?" Feng Hao asked, surprised.

Ming Xin Yan explained, "There are indeed only three spots, but according to the Grand Hall’s longstanding tradition, for each generation’s Thief selection, they secretly cultivate one hundred candidates. These are divided into five age groups of twenty, each corresponding to one of the five Thief seats."

"Within that group of twenty, they have to compete just like we did to secure three seed spots. Those three then compete against the three winners from the public preliminaries in the final showdown."

"Whoa, that’s actually fair and reasonable! I thought the three seed spots were all pre-arranged," Feng Hao said, genuinely impressed.

"Of course." Ming Xin Yan nodded and smiled. "Compared to the special positions in the Five Great Sects, the selection for a ’Thief’ in our Thief God Hall is truly fair. As long as you have the strength, you can stand out. It’s not like the Five Great Sects, which are full of backroom deals."

"That’s also why the title of ’Thief’ is respected by all thieves. To us in the Thief God Hall, becoming a ’Thief’ is an absolute honor!" As she said this, a look of pride graced Ming Xin Yan’s face.

"Are the selections for the Five Great Sects really that shady?" Feng Hao asked, his eyes full of curiosity.

"Shady doesn’t even begin to cover it. They’re rotten to the core." Ming Xin Yan curled her lip in a cold sneer. "All sorts of qualification standards, family background, children of high-ranking members, bloodline politics... You name it, they’ve done it."

"Damn, is it really that dark?" Feng Hao was dumbfounded.

Ming Xin Yan nodded with a cold smile. "You know of the Black Light Sword Saint, Sun Yalong, right?"

"Yeah, I even saw his remnant soul in person. Long, flowing hair... he was ridiculously handsome."

"From what I know, the Sun Sword Saint left the Thousand Blades Valley in a rage back then because he was cheated out of the Seven Swords Inheritance through some shady dealings. He eventually relied on his extraordinary talent in the Sword Dao to become the renowned Black Light Sword Saint. Ultimately, during the demonic creature uprising of that era, he sacrificed his own life to seal the creatures away."

After hearing Ming Xin Yan’s story, Feng Hao’s perception of the Five Great Sects was completely overturned. To use a popular phrase from his time on Earth: ’These people are rotten to the core. It’s a good thing I chose the Thief God Hall.’

As for the two sisters from the Xiyue Family, he wasn’t too worried. After all, with a special envoy like West Moon Ridge around, no one would be able to pull any corrupt tricks on them.

In comparison, the selection process and general atmosphere of the Thief God Hall were much fairer. Regardless of your birth or status, as long as you had talent, you could rise to the top.

"Anyway, my goal is to become a female Thief, just like Mei Meimei," Ming Xin Yan said, her eyes glittering.

"..." Feng Hao was speechless. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ’Seriously, Sis... Out of everyone to emulate, you had to pick the Fourth Thief, Mei Meimei.’

He shook his head helplessly and pulled the conversation back on track. "Ahem, anyway, let’s get back to the information on the three seeds."

Ming Xin Yan came back to her senses, realizing she had gotten a bit carried away. Her pretty face flushed slightly as she said, "I don’t know many specific details, just some basic information."

"The first seed is named Chen Yanlin. He’s a Level sixty-two Bow and Arrow Mage on the Power Path, and it’s said he has an awakened bloodline."

"The second seed is named Diaron, a Level sixty-three Defense Mage. He later switched to the Gang Qi path and has now fully developed it."

"The third one is rather special. He’s an orphan from the Ghost Realm named Wu Qing. He’s Level sixty-three with a natural dark energy constitution, making him well-suited for soul-based and magic-damage spells. His strength is not to be underestimated."

Feng Hao paused for a moment, then frowned. "Dark energy constitution? What does that mean?"

"To put it bluntly, it’s an Inner Ring bloodline. But the Inner Ring Star Realm is also divided into Yin and Yang Rings. They’re both energy constitutions, but the Yin Ring is more inclined towards soul and darkness. Many people over in the Ghost Realm are descendants of Yin Ring bloodlines," Ming Xin Yan explained.

Hearing this, Feng Hao finally understood. ’Based on this theory, Bai Yin’s energy constitution must be a Yang Ring bloodline.’

As for why Inner Ring bloodlines had energy constitutions, Feng Hao had read in quite a few jade slips that material life in the universe was said to have first evolved starting from the Third Ring Star Realm. Before that, all life existed in energy form.

Therefore, even though material life also evolved in the Inner Ring Star Realm, these life forms still possessed an extremely high affinity for energy.

"By the way, how’s that guy Fang Jie doing now?" Feng Hao asked.

"Him?" Ming Xin Yan smirked, her eyes full of confidence. "He just reached Level fifty-two. He’s no longer a concern."

Feng Hao chuckled. On second thought, she was right. That kid Fang Jie was decent, but he had ultimately relied on his Divine Soul Weapon to get as far as he did. Plus, he didn’t have a cheat item like the Life Creation Pill, so his level had fallen far behind.

...

After chatting with Ming Xin Yan a while longer, Feng Hao said his goodbyes and returned to Thief Peak to get himself into the right state of mind for tomorrow’s competition.

That night, Lin Luo and the other three dragged their exhausted bodies back to the Thief’s Palace one after another.

The Thief Master also came to Feng Hao’s room alone. Seeing Feng Hao cultivating diligently, a hint of gratification appeared on his face.

"Teacher, what brings you here?" Feng Hao opened his eyes in surprise and asked teasingly, "Where’s Mistress? Didn’t she come with you?"

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